Last week the Washington Post‘s Eliza Goren, Shefali S. Kulkarni and Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn posted a survey piece about the horror of Covid. They had asked readers for one-word or ultra-brief descriptions of what living through the pandemic has been like.

The most oft-repeated responses are posted below, but HE’s favorite term…well, it depends.

I’ve most often called it “suffocating” or “draining.” Because I feel as if I’ve been living and working without the ability to inhale any real oxygen into my lungs. “Neverending melancholy” is good. Ditto “widespread depression”, “novocaine” and “low tide.”

I’ve been telling myself in recent months that Jimi Hendrix‘s “I Don’t Live Today” sums it up nicely, especially “there ain’t no life nowhere.” Which is true — there ain’t.

Washington Post responses in order of popularity: (1) Exhausting, (2) Lost, (3) Chaotic, (4) Relentless, (5) Surreal, (6) Groundhog Day, (7) Heartbreaking, (8) What fresh hell is this?, (9) Nightmare, (10) Stifling.

Here’s an example of real actual life…a video taken five years ago from a Key West hotel room during a rainshower…a red bicycle for riding around…bars and restaurants there for the sampling…crowds of people milling about with the wild roosters…listen to that rain drenching those palm and banana trees…God, I miss it.